Author Interview: Ashley Poston

On By Beth JonesIn Interview8 Comments

I’m here today with something very exciting – an author interview! I adored her latest novel, Geekerella (review here), and I am extremely lucky to have had the chance to interview her.

Ashley Poston

About the Author

Ashley Poston’s is a part-time author and full-time fangirl. She was born in rural South Carolina, where you can see the stars impossibly well…

Tweet her at @ashposton and read her inner-most rambles at www.ashposton.com.

30724132

When geek girl Elle Wittimer sees a cosplay contest sponsored by the producers of Starfield, she has to enter. First prize is an invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. Elle’s been scraping together tips from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck behind her stepmother’s back, and winning this contest couldbe her ticket out once and for all—not to mention a fangirl’s dream come true.

Teen actor Darien Freeman is less than thrilled about this year’s ExcelsiCon. He used to live for conventions, but now they’re nothing but jaw-aching photo sessions and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Federation Prince Carmindor is all he’s ever wanted, but the diehard Starfield fandom has already dismissed him as just another heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, closet nerd Darien feels more and more like a fake—until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise.

What made you want to set Geekerella in a convention?

Geekerella had to be at least partly at a convention! What other great gathering of geeks could I celebrate?

What was the hardest thing about writing Geekerella?

Definitely keeping Darien and Elle’s timelines separate and yet running parallel to each other. It’s definitely harder than it seems.

Name a song you think fits Geekerella perfectly.

‘Hello’ by Allie X!

How do you overcome writers block?

I write anyway. Eventually I’ll crack the block, right?

Have you ever cosplayed, and if not, who would you love to cosplay as?

I love cosplaying! My favorite cosplay is The Little Mermaid’s Ariel costume (when she’s on land).

Would you ever consider writing about the story inside the story – Starfield?

The world of Starfield feels like an old friend, so I would love to someday!

Did you always know the ending of Geekerella, or did it come to you as you wrote?

I knew I wanted a GRG (Grand Romantic Gesture) but I wasn’t sure what I wanted. In one draft, Darien showed up at Elle’s door, another at the food truck, but I think the current ending is my favorite.

And the question we all knew was coming – is there anything else on the horizon for us to look forward to?

Of course! My next book comes out in February 2018 from Balzer + Bray. It’s called Heart of Iron, and it’s a little Anastasia, a little Firefly, and a lot of sweet murderous cinnamon rolls.

Thank you to Ashley for joining us!

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

| Goodreads |Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Redbubble |

Save

Review: Release by Patrick Ness

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review14 Comments

31194576

Goodreads | Amazon

Inspired by Mrs Dalloway and Judy Blume’s Forever, Release is one day in the life of Adam Thorn, 17. It’s a big day. Things go wrong. It’s intense, and all the while, weirdness approaches…
Adam Thorn is having what will turn out to be the most unsettling, difficult day of his life, with relationships fracturing, a harrowing incident at work, and a showdown between this gay teen and his preacher father that changes everything. It’s a day of confrontation, running, sex, love, heartbreak, and maybe, just maybe, hope. He won’t come out of it unchanged. And all the while, lurking at the edges of the story, something extraordinary and unsettling is on a collision course.

To describe my thoughts about this book in one line is easy. I don’t know what half of this book is.

Before reading this book, I’d heard it was a contemporary with a weird fantasy story weaved in between. That sounds strange, right? Well, it is.

If you’ve read The Rest of Us Just Live Here, you’ll know that book kind of includes the same thing. It almost shows parallel universes – or snippets of something – kind of like the Upside Down from Stranger Things. But The Rest of Us Just Live Here just makes so much more sense.

Don’t get me wrong. I liked this book. I’d even go as far to say I loved it. But at the same time, I was left wondering what the hell is going on.

The story follows Adam Thorn, a gay son of a preacher who is working through a lot of emotions, loss and struggles all over the course of one day. I really liked Adam. I felt I related to him from the start, and I felt his story was a really important one.

I also love that this book was told over the course of a day. It suits the length of the book, and it felt almost like a dawn-to-sunset journey. It also adds to the impact of the amount that one life can change in just one day.

Overall, I loved what Ness did with Adam. He showed raw emotion and struggle which the reader really connects to. The settings work (and kind of intertwine with the weird fantasy parts), the characters are very powerful, and even the sex was tastefully done.

But I still have this snag. Because I don’t get the fantasy. I don’t even know how to explain it.

Basically, it’s briefly mentioned that this fantasy story is one about a meth addict murdered by her boyfriend at a lakeside. This lake (I believe) is the same one mentioned in Adam’s story, and the murdered girl was someone from a party or school or something? But I don’t quite get it. I don’t get how it fits. I felt like Ness tried some kind of higher-being writing that was meant to be deep and meaningful but just ended up leaving me in a confused daze. I even felt like skipping these parts just to get back to Adam, and for that reason I probably didn’t take it in as much as I could.

But – and this is where I have such mixed feelings – I just loved Adam. His story felt so important, like it was just begging to be told. And his character is one we really need in YA right now. And even though I felt like the start of the book was a little slow, the ending made up for it.

So this definitely isn’t my favourite of Ness’s. The Chaos Walking trilogy firmly holds that spot. But it was still an enjoyable read overall, and one I would recommend – just watch out for confusion.

★★★★

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

| Goodreads |Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Redbubble |

Save

Book review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review20 Comments

18692431

Goodreads | Amazon

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.
But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.
Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

Before I start: This review is spoiler free! You can carry on at your leisure.

To celebrate the US release of Everything, Everything, here I am with my book review!

Wow. I don’t even know where to start. Let’s just say this was a refreshing read after Thirteen Reasons Why. It was just what I needed – to find my love for books again.

“I was trying so hard to find the single pivotal moment that set my life on its path. The moment that answered the question, ‘How did I get here?’

Let’s try and break this up into a manageable review, and stop my head spinning around and around at the emotions I feel towards this book.

I always say the best books are the ones that make you feel everything. And this book did. I felt everything along with Maddy – I laughed at Olly’s sense of humor, I felt despair at her condition and the restrictions it included, I felt joy at her sense of adventure, anger at the plot twist and finally, hope.

That is what I loved most about this book – among many other things – the emotions. The journey. The sheer inability to guess what was going to happen.

But it’s never just one moment. It’s a series of them. And your life can branch out from each one in a thousand different ways.

So why has it taken me so long to get round to reading it? After all, it’s been on my TBR since release. Honestly, the hype put me off. That might sound ridiculous – but I was in a bitter post-TFIOS stage and I didn’t want to read anything with too much hype because I thought it would all disappoint me.

How wrong could I possibly be? Instead of hating this book, it’s become my favourite of the year so far. It might even stay there for my end of year summary.

Maybe there’s a version of your life for all the choices you make and all the choices you don’t.”

So..why? Becuase I just felt like everything in this book fit together. It had everything. It had characters I understood and felt a connection towards. It had perfect – yet cliche – romance. It had lovely, flowing, poetic writing that didn’t feel over the top in it’s beautiful quotes. It even had an amazing plot, with a plot twist I didn’t see coming.

Last but not least – a shoutout to Nicola Yoon for that plot twist. Unfortunately, good plot twists are few and far between in contemporary romances. If they do occur, they’re usually pretty safe and predictable. But Yoon took a risk with this one, and it paid off.

How I admire her for creating such a wonderful novel.

I give this book (undoubtedly)….

★★★★★

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

| Goodreads |Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Redbubble |

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review23 Comments

1217100

Goodreads | Amazon

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.
On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out how he made the list.

I could very easily say I hated this book – but I won’t. I can’t say I hated it. However, I will admit that it made me very angry, because it all felt so wrong to me.

I ranted a lot while reading this book – as everyone who has talked to me recently will know! I will admit I was wrong on one part though. I felt like this book doesn’t depict feeling suicidal very well – but people who have been through similar situations to Hannah said they felt like they related to her thoughts and feelings. So for that, I will say I was wrong. And the fact this book helped and related to people is an amazing thing.

Now onto my rant! I didn’t hate this book – but disliked it enough to list 13 reasons why I disliked it! Before I start, I have two notices.

  1. This post is kind of inspired by this post by Emma Reads!
  2. Please understand this is my personal opinion. I am not trying to start an argument or offend anyone! If you loved this book, I’d just avoid the rest of my review.

13 Reasons Why I Didn’t Like Thirteen Reasons Why

#1 – The melodramatic person that is Hannah Baker

Okay, I will admit I did find this different as I carried on – and towards the end I kind of started to understand a little more. But some of the little things that happened just seem so petty to me. But it might be wrong of me to criticise that – I know little things can affect me badly and I know it can be awful for people who go through that over and over again.

#2 – What she did to poor Clay

Yes, some of these people maybe did deserve what Hannah did *cough* Bryce *cough*, but not all of them. I don’t think even most of them would have deserved something as bad as what Hannah did – but Clay is definitely didn’t. He felt like it was his fault – even though Hannah says it isn’t – and yet she still put him on the tapes. She still made the poor guy, who was just too shy and too scared to make a move…and put him through all that.

#3 – Other teenagers feel like sh*t too!

A very important thing here. I’m pretty sure that at some point, teenagers have a low point (or more, or even many). We’re all vulnerable, emotional and have a lot going on. IT’S NOT JUST YOU, HANNAH.

#4 – Triggers

I know the adaptation of this book has given people panic attacks. I know it has trigger warnings, and that’s a good thing. But it doesn’t stop people watching it. It doesn’t stop people (even kids who are watching it because their friends watched it) seeing these graphic, awful images and having panic attacks because of it.

#5 – She doesn’t help herself

I know a lot of people find it hard (and scary) to get help. I totally understand that. But I just wish she had gone for help earlier. I wish it had been portrayed in a better light, and she had realised that poor Mr Porter just wanted to help.

#6 – People may care, but they don’t always notice

Hannah constantly blamed other people for not realising how she’s feeling. Ever occurred to you that having your hair cut doesn’t show that? That giving away a bicycle might just show that you’re a nice person?

Also, all teenagers have troubles. A lot of them are completely and utterly wrapped up in that. But it doesn’t mean they don’t care. It doesn’t mean they don’t want to help.

#7 – “I’m f*cked up, so I’ll just f*ck everyone else up too”

It’s obvious that Hannah feels like she’s been screwed over by everyone in some way – but her way of dealing with it is making other people feel the same way. Making other people feel like it’s their fault for your death. Putting it bluntly – how screwed up does that sound?

I’m not saying they don’t deserve it. Some of them maybe do…but then there’s others, who maybe were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I just don’t feel like they deserve that.

#8 – Suicide is not an adventure. It is the end of an adventure

I hate the way suicide is shown in this book. At all. The whole cassettes and map thing makes it look like a twisted kind of treasure hunt. Real life just doesn’t work like that. It’s not a game, but I feel like the way it is connected to a kind of hunt isn’t a good thing.

#9 – There are two – or thirteen – sides to everything

Yes, I’ll admit that Hannah went through some tough sh*t. She didn’t deserve any of it. But what about Mr Porter, for example? He might not have been able to chase after her because he could have been fired. It might have looked wrong. He tried everything to try and help her, and he got pushed away.

#10 – So much blame

Sometimes, everyone has to accept they did something wrong. They could have asked for help. And I know this is a hard thing to get around, but sometimes life just happens and you can’t always control it. Hannah didn’t only put blame on other people, but she put blame on herself.

#11 – Where the f*ck are the parents?!

I like that this book is about how people do care, even when you don’t think they do. But I hate the fact that the parents are hardly mentioned at all! I’m sure they played a big part in Hannah’s life, and I wish I knew how they missed her. I wish Jay had shown us that your parents would find it hardest to heal. He missed such an opportunity there.

#12 – Get help.

As I said above, I know it’s hard to get to help – but this book puts the counselor in a bad light. It puts asking for help in a bad light, and that is something I think YA books about mental health should never do.

#13 – SUICIDE IS NOT THE ANSWER

I might be wrong, but I felt like this book almost recommended suicide as the answer. Instead of asking for help or telling people that you feel down or even suicidal, ending it all is the easiest way. I understand some people feel that way – but I feel like this book could have shown a much better message. It could have discouraged suicide. Hannah could have found help, and it could have shown that help is available. That help is right.

So after all that, let’s end on a good note. First of all, well done if you managed to get through all that. Anyway, the good note is:

  • I do think this book gave one good message. The fact that it did make me think about how actions can have an influence on people, and their mental health. It did make me think about my own actions. I just don’t think that message was portrayed in the right way.

I give this book….

★★

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

| Goodreads |Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Redbubble |

Review: Lorali by Laura Dockrill

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review2 Comments

34623393

Goodreads | Amazon

Colourful, raw, brave, rich and fantastical – this mermaid tale is not for the faint-hearted.
Looking after a naked girl he found washed up under Hastings pier isn’t exactly how Rory had imagined spending his sixteenth birthday. But more surprising than finding her in the first place is discovering where she has come from.
Lorali is running not just from the sea, not just from her position as princess, but her entire destiny. Lorali has rejected life as a mermaid, and become human.
But along with Lorali’s arrival, and the freak weather suddenly battering the coast, more strange visitors begin appearing in Rory’s bemused Sussex town. With beautifully coiffed hair, sharp-collared shirts and a pirate ship shaped like a Tudor house, the Abelgare boys are a mystery all of their own. What are they really up to? Can Rory protect Lorali? And who from? And where does she really belong, anyway?

Disclaimer: I received this book from Hot Key UK in exchange for an honest review. This has not changed my views in any way.

This book reminded me very much of Ink, for a good reason and a bad reason. The good reason was the uniqueness. There is no denying I have never read a book like Lorali, or met characters like the ones in her world.

The bad reason, however, is the confusion. I liked the uniqueness, but you can go too far…and unfortunately, I feel like Lorali did.

Creating a whole new concept in YA is a brave thing – and I can say Dockrill did that. But even though the concepts for both Lorali and Ink are both good, they weren’t carried out in the right way.

For a start, the world of mermaids is a concept hard to get your head around, especially in this book. I think part of the problem was the writing – it felt so debut-y. And pre-teen-y. The language just didn’t seem right. Even though I enjoyed the different way Rory sounded in his writing, it came across as immature.

I also disliked the ending, which felt like it cancelled out some of the book for me. I won’t say anymore because of spoilers, but it kind of felt like she lost a lot of the things she gained by ‘surfacing’. Okay, I’m going to stop moaning in a second! The last complaint I have is the amount of different characters in this book. Oh, it confused me so!

Onto the good stuff. I think the concept salvaged this story more than anything else. It’s unique, it’s different, and a lot of people will love it. There are not many mermaid themed books, so this one definitely creates something fresh and interesting. I also can’t say I disliked the book while I was reading it. Sure, I found a lot wrong…but I didn’t hate the actual process of reading it.

So overall, mixed feelings. It’s been a tough choice, but I am going to carry on with the series and read Aurabal if I can! Even though I didn’t like the main ending, the epilogue has actually drawn me in.

I give this book…

★★★

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

| Goodreads |Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Redbubble |

Quotes I Love #16

On By paperbackpeteIn Pete1 Comment

Hi guys!

Is anyone else feeling like the Summer is taking a really long time to get here? Well I am and because of that I was reminded of some of the quotes from books I’ve loved and read during the months of summer.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

carry-on-us-covers

If you know me then you’ve probably heard me rave about Carry On by Rainbow Rowell before. It is one of my favourite books for so many reasons and she is one of my favourite authors for so many reasons (I was even lucky enough to meet her and get my copy signed to me!?). I could very easily go on forever about this book, but I won’t, I’ll just sum it up in my favourite quote from it instead:

“What you are is a fucking tragedy, Simon Snow. You literally couldn’t be a bigger mess.”
He tries to kiss me, but I pull back- “And you like that?”
“I love it.” He says
“Why?”
“Because we match.”

Paper Towns by John Green

18690890

A cult classic in YA, revered and hated by book bloggers around the world, Paper Towns reminds me so much of being a teenager which is weird because I still am one. If you somehow still haven’t read this you should just so you can form a polarising opinion on it and agree with me or think i’m a mad man for actually liking this story. My favourite quote is this one, its makes me feel small and overwhelmed which I love:

“You can see how fake it all is. It’s not even hard enough to be made out of plastic. It’s a paper town. I mean, look at it, Q: look at all those culs-de-sac, those streets that turn in on themselves, all the houses that were built to fall apart. All those paper people living in their paper houses, burning the future to stay warm.”

Seriously, please do read both these books you hopefully won’t regret it?

Keep on reading

And thanks again Beth.

Review: One Italian Summer by Keris Stainton

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review5 Comments

31322309

Goodreads | Amazon

It’s been a year since Milly, Elyse and Leonie’s dad died, and a year since their last trip to Rome. Summer’s here again, and once again they are heading with their mum to Italy – but what’s it going to be like going without Dad? Rome still holds its familiar charms – the sun is still as warm, the gelato as delicious, the people as welcoming. But nothing is quite as it once was …
With grief still raw for all of them, Milly is facing the additional awfulness of having to see Luke again – gorgeous, gorgeous Luke, who she had a fling with last year, and who she made a total fool of herself with – or so she thinks. What’s going to happen this time? What’s more, things between Milly, her sisters and their mum are rocky – Leonie is being tempestuous and unpredictable, Elyse is caught up with her new boyfriend, and Milly feels like she just doesn’t know how she fits in any more.
Over one Italian summer, can Milly find a way back to the life she once had?

Disclaimer: I received this book from Hot Key UK in exchange for an honest review. This has not changed my views in any way.

It’s safe to say I loved this book. It was the perfect romance/contemporary and holiday read. As I explained in my video above, I loved most aspects of this book, and they all fit so well together.

The plot flowed pretty well. A week or two is a great time frame for a holiday read, and it really made me feel close to the characters and the setting!

The setting was one of my favourite parts of this book, and it really felt like I was, as a reader, in the setting and with the characters. This reminded me of Anna and the French Kiss, which also has a great representation of the setting.

Moving onto the characters, I really liked Milly. She felt real and relatable, struggling with many different things we feel day-to-day. She was a typical teenager with a love interest, but it really kind of worked. I really like that the entire book wasn’t completely focused on romance and it allowed room for other thoughts and feelings.

Some of these were really well represented, including worrying, paranoia and coping with grief from overcoming her dad’s death. The side characters were really well written, meaning a I found out about a lot of stories within the novel without being confused!

The only tiny gripe I could pick up in this book was the slight bit of insta-love, but I can’t really complain too much. As with much of the book, the love progressed with the story and it worked too!

Overall, I really liked this book. I didn’t want to finish it, and I actually avoided reading it for a while because I didn’t want to leave this story! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves YA contemporary, romance and holiday reads.

I give One Italian Summer:

★★★★

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

| Goodreads |Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Redbubble |

Save

Review: Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review5 Comments

22509768

Goodreads | Amazon

A sexy, funny roller coaster of a story about one date over one very long night in New York. Nick and Norah are both suffering from broken hearts. So when Nick sees the girl who dumped him walk in with a new guy he asks the strange girl next to him to be his girlfriend for the next five minutes. Norah would do anything to avoid conversation with the not-friend girl who dumped Nick, and get over the Evil Ex whom Norah never quite broke up with. And so she agrees. What follows is an epic first date between two people who are just trying to figure out who they want to be – and where the next great band is playing.

Before I start: You may be interested to know my Week 1 of Mental Health Month is now up on Tumblr! You can read it here.

This book is definitely sexy! I love the easy feel of this book. It’s definitely one to read if you love contemporary YA and romance!

You may remember me reading Naomi & Ely’s No Kiss List and finding it a little confusing, but this one was definitely better. In both books there appear to be many different characters, but I liked how Nick & Norah had only, well, Nick & Norah.

That’s something I’d like to mention in this all-over-the-place review. I really liked the two characters. It was good to have the two viewpoints, but not confusing. I don’t think this book could work any other way!

I liked a lot about this book. The plot was good, and I liked the idea of it being panned over just a night, with all the detail included!

I also liked the writing, it was simple, and it made me feel like I knew exactly what both characters were thinking. The only downside about this book would be the actual love. This book is definitely insta-love, but maybe I should have expected that. I am definitely one to prefer people falling in love over a longer period of time, so if you do too, make sure you expect insta-love!

Overall, I liked this book. It was an easy, quick, casual and sexy read, but it wasn’t incredible. Definitely worth the read, but not one of my absolute favourites.

☽ ☽ ☽
3 out of 5 moons

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

|Goodreads|Instagram|Tumblr|Twitter|YouTube|Facebook|Pinterest|Redbubble|

The Raven Boys. Book Review #15

On By paperbackpeteIn PeteLeave a comment

Hello fellow book lovers!

Hopefully you all had a wonderfully relaxing Easter break last weekend and you got to spend it with the ones you love and the book/s you love too!

Today I want to give you my take on what has became one of the most popular series in all of YA.

The Raven Boys is a Young Adult magical realism story following Blue Sargent, the daughter of a small town mystic who can see the dead and read the future. Her whole life Blue has been surrounded by people who could do things that didn’t make sense but for some unknown reason she has never been able to do those things herself. That all changes when on an annual visit to her local graveyard on one of the most magical days of the year Blue sees the ghost of a boy she will soon come to know very well, he just so happens to be a raven boy.

With true love curses and trees that can talk this book explores being independent, being wealthy, being different and being young.

There was always so much talk about The Raven Boys in the YA world and I’d heard loads of good things so I decided last week that now was the time to finally pick up this story. It did not disappoint. Aside from being, genuinely very well written one of the biggest things about this book that really jumped out to me was how completely stranded I was within the plot. I mean this in a positive way, of course. Before going into TRB I had a very solid image in my mind about what I thought it was going to be like and instead what I got was something entirely different.

I am a sucker, like many of us, for stories about high school and all of the usual dramas that surround the most momentous time in our lives that we call being a teenager. However, The Raven Boys in a pleasant shock did not build itself up on being a book about being an angsty adolescent with a dark secret and a splash of unrequited love. The boarding school that the Raven Boys go to in the story is an important element but it isn’t shoved in our faces and generally not a lot of time is spent there. The focus of TRB is on the characters and the multitude of events that unfurl around them not the usual cliches of who likes who and will you go to prom with me? I guess what i’m trying to say is that in this book youth is done in a tasteful way.

Not just youth but wealth too. Often in young adult books our protagonists posses some superpower that makes them unique enough for us to care about reading their story. TRB is no different, Gansey has his insatiable curiosity, Blue has her mysticism and Ronan has his money. Stiefvater somehow manages to weave a web of magic and folklore into every day realistic problems that normal people face like family and acceptance. The affluence of the Raven Boys, to me was one of the most intriguing of all of these real life problems. I have always found the young and wealthy to be some of the most interesting characters and Stiefvater paints the effects of wealth, in this book, in a way that feeds that interest profoundly. It can be very easy for normal people like you and me (I apologise if you are a millionaire) to romanticise wealth and picture it as an everlasting comfort blanket of excess. However in TRB, in the most raw and honest way, Stiefvater assures us that its not all rosy in the nicer part of town.

I could of talked about this book all day if I didn’t have an English essay due tomorrow so I’m just going trust that you all are clever enough to go out and buy this masterful piece of literature. The hype around this story exists for a reason- its because its good.

I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars

Keep on reading!

And thanks again Beth

ARC Review: All the Good Things by Clare Fisher

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review10 Comments

32792758
Goodreads | Amazon

Twenty-one year old Beth is in prison. The thing she did is so bad she doesn’t deserve to ever feel good again.
But her counsellor, Erika, won’t give up on her. She asks Beth to make a list of all the good things in her life. So Beth starts to write down her story, from sharing silences with Foster Dad No. 1, to flirting in the Odeon on Orange Wednesdays, to the very first time she sniffed her baby’s head.
But at the end of her story, Beth must confront the bad thing.
What is the truth hiding behind her crime? And does anyone-even a 100% bad person-deserve a chance to be good?

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Penguin UK in exchange for an honest review. This has not changed my views in any way.

Note: This review will also be published on June 23rd as part of the All the Good Things blog tour.

The easiest way I can describe All the Good Things is raw. This is pure, honest feelings. There is absolutely no filter, and I loved it.

Beth is the perfect protagonist. She tells her story in a great way – and I loved the use of flashbacks to all the different parts of her life. The cast of characters is large, and I actually enjoyed that. Most of the time I find it easier to focus on just a couple or small group of main characters, but this time, it worked. I knew who everyone was, why they were there and what they added to the story. And that’s the other great thing – all of the characters fitted. All of them worked well together, and they were all needed to complete the story.

The story Beth tells is one of the most difficult I have ever read – but at the same time, I couldn’t stop reading. I became very attached to Beth, the damaged soul she is, and I wanted to know she would be okay.

The writing is extremely clever, in that we get to know Beth before finding out about this ‘bad thing’. In fact, we know everything about her and her life before this ‘bad thing’, and it works so well.

This stopped the judgement surrounding people in prison. It stopped the way we feel towards people who have committed crimes this serious, because we, strangely, were forced to understand. We were forced to relate. The fact that Fisher could do this in words baffles me. I look up to her and respect her as an author, because she did something beyond belief.

I love the lead up to the big ending in the story. The book follows a series of sessions Beth has with her counselor, Erika, in which she writes a list of all the good things in her life. With each point on this list, another part is added to the story.

So…did I guess the ending? I have to admit, I did. Not completely, but it was like this thing in my head was nudging me, going ‘it could be this, it could be this’, and it was right. But, the same as Beth, I didn’t want to accept the fate. And, the same as Beth, I ignored the nudging. This means the book works whether you guess the ending or not – because you still don’t want to face it, and you still want to find out what really happened.

Overall, this book was harrowing, but it needed to be. It was real. It was human. It showed a very important thing – we are complicate creatures. We are all different, and we are not defined by one single thing.

A beautifully written debut, and one I would thoroughly recommend to all readers.

☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽
5 out of 5 moons

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

|Goodreads|Instagram|Tumblr|Twitter|YouTube|Facebook|Pinterest|Redbubble|

Save